China has no qualms about RI war games

China has no qualms about RI war games

JAKARTA (JP): China is not upset with the big military
exercise currently being conducted by Indonesia in the Natuna
Islands, Indonesia's Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said
yesterday.

Feisal said Beijing's position was stated by Gen. Fu Quangyou,
the People's Liberation Army chief of general affairs currently
visiting Indonesia.

"There is no problem," he told reporters when asked about
China's reaction to the on-going war games in the South China
Sea.

Speaking after escorting his guest to Bina Graha, where he
paid a courtesy call on President Soeharto, Feisal said that
Indonesia had explained the military drill to China.

"Did they accept the explanation?" journalists asked.

"Of course," Feisal replied.

He stressed that the visit has no connection whatsoever to the
Natuna war games, and that it is intended to forge closer
relations between the two countries.

Gen. Fu also explained Beijing's position regarding Hong Kong
and Taiwan, and promised that the two territories would be left
as they are now if and when they are reunited, Feisal said.

China earlier said that it was closely watching the exercises
around the Natunas, to which it has made veiled claims.

The exercise came in the wake of a Chinese protest of the
talks held between Taiwanese foreign minister John Chang and
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas in Jakarta last week.

China said that it has made a "serious representation" to the
Indonesian embassy in Beijing over the meeting.

Alatas has stated that Chang was in Indonesia in a private
capacity and reiterated Indonesia's "One-China" policy of
recognizing only Beijing as the representative of China.

On Monday, Maj. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, the commandant-general
of the Army's special force, Kopassus, was in Beijing on a
goodwill visit.

In the joint exercise, which began on Sept. 4 and will wind up
on Sept. 19, more than 195,000 troops, 40 fighter jets and 50
warships are taking part in a mock-operation to recapture the
Natunas, an area which is not only strategically situated in the
South China Sea but also rich in oil and gas.

The Armed Forces has denied that the drill is intended as a
show of force, adding that the choice of location on the northern
frontier of the islands was not aimed at provoking its neighbors.

Meanwhile, Antara reported from the Natunas that a large-scale
amphibious operation got underway yesterday as part of the
exercises in the run up to D-Day on Saturday.

Some 1,000 marines will be part of the massive landing in
Sangiap Bay.

Three companies from the Marines arrived yesterday on
neighboring Subi, Matak and Serasan islands, while a fleet of 40
warships left Tanjung Priok port for Natuna on Sunday.

Armed clashes began in the inner part of the islands with
Indonesian fighters jets pounding the Ranai air base, which is
under "enemy control", the news agency reported. (emb)